DeepIntent Launches Verified Ads to Authenticate Political Ads

In an effort to bring transparency into the programmatic ecosystem, moment-based marketing technology company DeepIntent is launching a new feature for verifying the origin of political ads trafficked through its demand-side platform (DSP). The feature, called Verified Ads, scans the ad creative and destination page to classify whether the ad is politically-oriented.

The solution then renders the ad with a Verified icon, which allows users to hover over it and see information about the advertiser, such as the advertiser’s registered entity name and in which state the corporate entity is registered.

When a creative is determined to be political on DeepIntent’s platform, the advertiser must follow a thorough validation process. The advertiser must prove that domains are owned and operated by the same entity by submitting the advertisers’ Articles of Formation, whether the message is authorized by a political candidate, and whether the ad is financed by a candidate.

DeepIntent then confirms that the advertiser is a reputable and valid U.S.-based and U.S.-operated entity, and that the click-through domains in the ad are owned and operated by the same entity. The entity’s information is also added to a publicly available ledger that DeepIntent will maintain online.

Chris Paquette

“With the recent discovery of interference in the 2016 presidential election, the spread of fake news and deceitful political ads, we felt there was an urgent need to facilitate a layer of transparency into political ads that are bought through the programmatic ecosystem,” said Chris Paquette, DeepIntent’s CEO and Co-Founder. “Our Verified Ads product is among the first in the industry to add a verification layer to political advertising across the web. We encourage others to follow suit as we enter the 2018 political advertising season.”